Tucson

I had a very huge roller coaster of a weekend, first being presented with a ridiculously awesome – like dream come true awesome – offer on Friday (which I will hopefully be able to go into more detail on by the end of the week), then spending my entire Saturday in Tucson 3 miles from where an insane (insert strongest profanity here) 22-year old loser opened fire on a crowd of people – though he was supposedly only aiming for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, killing 6 (including a 9-year old girl) and injuring anywhere from 13-20 others. Giffords, who was shot through the head, is still being sedated 2 days later with another brain surgery scheduled for today to relieve pressure caused by the wound. The human species never ceases to shock me. Honestly, what kind of a point do you have to want to make where you have to kill innocent people, or anyone at all? And what kind of a country have we become where as soon as someone is threatened, shot at, or killed it becomes a political firestorm of blame and finger-pointing? Human life is pretty much taken out of the equation now; the fact that a 9-year old girl died while trying to be more informed about our government, regardless of her birthday being on 9/11, that an elderly man put himself in front of his wife only to sacrifice his life while saving hers, that countless other people endured bodily harm, painful injuries, and a life-threatening (and life-taking) encounter caused by someone who deemed it necessary that killing was the only answer to his problems. The moment he made the conscious decision to pull that trigger, it no longer had anything to do with politics or opinions, it became an issue about the preservation of and respect for life. Politics do not come before life, end of discussion. I am afraid for the future of this country, and I am sad that we have to wait for people to die – for what? So someone could make a point? – before we choose to step back as a nation and really look at what is going on around us. In the end, who really cares whether it’s the Republicans or the Democrats? Everyone should be able to have their own opinions and beliefs without having to be gunned down mercilessly while trying to become more informed. It’s really sad and I’m sorry for the people whose lives were taken or threatened and their families, here’s to hoping they do not suffer in vain.

Saturday was such a long day that even by the time it was 10am on Sunday, I found myself still reeling from the surrealism of it all and read over 50 articles about what had happened, all the while trying to remember I still had to celebrate my dream come true on Friday. I really did mean to write a review today, and even took notes on a brew that I tried, but I really feel like what happened this weekend takes precedence – even if this is supposed to be a beer review blog, not a personal one. I will try to post my review tomorrow, and I hope that everyone is well.